NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 72: Garden SK8

Garden SK8 T-Shirt
Today’s shirt comes from Skate Rags Online 
(Thanks to Adam J. Dabonka for the heads up!)

The front of the tee features the outline of New Jersey looking like the underside of a skateboard. It was designed by graffiti artists Snow and Dr. Crab. The stores description of the T-shirt is also cool:

“This t-shirt pays tribute to not only NJ and its millions of skateboarders state-wide, but to anyone who has sat for hours in traffic on the NJ Turnpike going to the beach on a July afternoon. From Hoboken, Newark, Red Bank, Sayreville, Hackettstown, all the way down to Wildwood and Cape May. Love it, Hate it…and usually a little bit of both…it’s NJ!”

I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but Skateboarding still enjoys a huge following in New Jersey. We are lucky to have a bunch of well designed skate parks throughout the Garden State that kids and adults flock to. Friends of Miss Sexy Armpit even built a half pipe in their backyard for their son to skate on. Damn, I wish my parents built me a wrestling ring in the yard, I’d probably be a mid-carder by now! When I was a kid (In the ’80s, I know, I’m ancient) skate culture was booming with Tony Hawk, Vision, and Powell-Peralta but even with that huge success it wasn’t as mainstream as it is today. Now you can go into the back aisles of Target and get a Tony Hawk skateboard for less than $20 bucks! Back then certain models were several hundred dollars!

I’m no master skater by any means, in fact, I’m not fond of being on wheels unless I’m in a car or riding a bike. While I stick to my BMX, if you are a skater you should discover Jersey’s skate parks. Many of the 60 some odd parks are city run, open to the public, and free to get in. Other parks are privately owned, like Garden SK8, an indoor skate park in Pine Brook, NJ. The creatively designed facility offers lessons, clinics, rentals, and parties. Their website touts it as “Hands down the most technical street course and gigantic bowl also known as ‘The Pirate Bowl'” And for the best t-shirts to skate in, check out Skate Rags Online.

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